


The Paper Anniversary

by meils121



Category: Leverage
Genre: Anniversary, Fluff, Multi, Surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-21 15:30:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17046209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meils121/pseuds/meils121
Summary: Anniversaries are hard for anybody.  But when there's three people in the relationship, it makes celebrating that much harder.Or:  How Parker pulls off the best anniversary surprise ever.





	The Paper Anniversary

**Author's Note:**

  * For [symphorine](https://archiveofourown.org/users/symphorine/gifts).



          The first problem is that they don’t exactly agree on what day their anniversary is.

          Hardison says it’s on the fifth.  That, he argues, is the day he and Parker officially asked Eliot to join them.  It makes sense, he says, that _that_ is their anniversary - after all, it’s how most people would define the day.  

          And he might be right, but Eliot prefers to think that their anniversary is the day he promised ‘till his dying day.  Because that’s more-or-less the moment he decided he was with Parker and Hardison forever and that nothing short of death was going to take him away from them.  That, he thinks, seems like an anniversary.

          Parker thinks they’re both wrong.  Or maybe both right.  Dates have never meant all that much to her.  So she says they should just split the difference and choose a date in the middle.  Hardison’s pick and Eliot’s are only a couple of weeks apart anyways, so it’s not that big a deal.  

          Hardison looks scandalized when she suggests as much, though, and Eliot gets all grumpy.  

          They finally agree that if they can’t agree on the actual date, they should at least have a day when they celebrate them being - them.  So Parker pulls the calender out and after much discussion (because “That’s my great-aunt Margo’s birthday, Eliot, I’m not sharing a day with _her_ ” and “That was the day in Bangladesh that I got stabbed six times, I don’t want to remember that anymore than I have to”), they finally settle on October 17th.  That’s a good date, Parker thinks.  

          Parker circles the date on the calendar in purple marker and hangs it back up.  First problem solved.

          The second problem is a much harder one to solve, though.  About a month before their chosen anniversary, Eliot asks, “So what are we doing to celebrate?”

          And that - that is something Parker hasn’t yet thought about.  She knows, in theory, what people do for anniversaries.  She and Hardison have been together for a few years now, and he always gets her flowers and they go out for dinner or something like that.  It’s what she thinks you’re supposed to do.  At least, that’s how it’s always portrayed in movies or on TV.  But Parker’s never seen three people have an anniversary.  Does Eliot even like flowers?

          Maybe not, but Parker knows something he does like: food.  “We could go to that new organic fusion restaurant.”  She suggests, because Eliot’s been talking about it for a couple weeks now, about how they managed to merge Thai and Mexican cuisine and keep everything healthy and organic.  It sounds okay to Parker, but Hardison’s been insisting that he won’t eat a Pad Thai burrito (even if Eliot says that’s not even a thing).  

          “Oh.  Yeah, we could do that.”  Hardison agrees, if a little reluctantly.  “That would be nice.”

          Eliot isn’t one you can fool easily.  “Nice try.”  He tells Hardison.  “But this is supposed to be for all of us, not just me.  If you don’t want to go, I’m not going to make you.  At least, not for our anniversary.”

          “Meaning?”

          “I made reservations for tomorrow night.”  

          Hardison glares at him, but it’s only a half-hearted attempt.  “We could go rappelling off that new tower downtown.”  He says.

          Parker lights up at that.  She’s been eyeing the tower the whole time it’s been under construction, impatiently waiting for it to be fully built.  The ribbon cutting was last month, but they’ve been so busy with jobs and with running the brew pub that she simply hasn’t had time.

          She glances over at Hardison, and even though he made the suggestion he doesn’t look entirely thrilled by the idea.  “You don’t like doing that.”  Parker says with a shake of her head.  “And Eliot only kinda likes it.”

          “I like watching Hardison freak out.”  Eliot offers.  He frowns.  “Well, what about that comic con you’ve been talking about?  Isn’t that coming up?”

          Hardison grins.  “Yeah, that whole week around our anniversary.  There’s a whole bunch of Star Trek actors doing a panel on Tuesday, and Billie Piper’s gonna be there on Wednesday!”  His smile fades.  “Which sounds awesome to me, but you guys wouldn’t like it, would you?”

          Parker shrugs.  She likes Doctor Who, even if Star Trek isn’t exactly her cup of tea.  But she’s never quite figured out the point of meeting famous people, or even why they’re famous.  

          “Well, then what are we going to do?”  Eliot asks.  “We can’t do nothing.”

          Parker considers this for a minute.  “Leave it to me.”  She says finally.  “I’ll figure it out.”  Before Hardison can say something, she adds, “And it won’t involve jumping off buildings.”

          Later that night, she calls Sophie.  

          “Well, what do you all like?”  Sophie asks.  It’s a reasonable question, it really is, but Parker’s already asked herself that multiple times.  

          “That’s the thing.”  Parker says.  “We can think of things each of us likes, but nothing that all of us like.  Nothing special, at least.  I want this to be special.  It’s our first anniversary.”  

          Sophie hums.  “Well, traditionally, the first anniversary present is paper.”  She says.  

          Parker thinks about handing Hardison a pack of computer paper.  “That’s not romantic.”  She says.  

          “Something made of paper, Parker.”  Sophie says, like she’s reading Parker’s thoughts.  

          Parker thinks about that.  And thinks some more.  Her head’s starting to hurt, and she’s no closer to figuring things out than she was before she called Sophie.

          “Aren’t you supposed to be good at this relationship stuff?”  She asks.

          Sophie laughs.  “I’m not part of your relationship with the boys.”  She says.  “I can’t tell you what they’d like.  This has to come from the heart.

          It’s four in the morning when an idea finally comes to Parker.  She untangles herself from the blankets (and Eliot’s arm, and Hardison’s leg) and slides out of bed.  She has to use the credit card that Hardison doesn’t have access to, so he won’t see what she’s planning.  And then she has to wait for Amy to come into work later that day to make sure everything will work out smoothly.

          A month later, Parker shoves the final suitcase into the trunk of the car and slams it shut.  “To the airport.”  She declares.  “Hurry, I don’t want to miss our flight.”

          “Are you gonna tell us what’s going on?”  Eliot asks as he starts the car.  “You have to tell us sooner or later.  We’ll figure it out once you give us the tickets.”

          Parker leans forward from the back seat and hands Hardison the envelope with the tickets.  “Here.”  She says.  “Tell Eliot.”

          “We’re going to Hawaii?”  Hardison asks.  “Parker, babe, this is awesome!”

          Eliot glances out the window at the falling snow.  “Yeah, I’m onboard for Hawaii.”  He agrees.  “So that’s the anniversary surprise you’ve been planning, huh?  I like it.”

          “Only part of it.”  Parker corrects.  “The tickets are the paper part.  Sophie says that’s tradition.  I’ll tell you the rest of it when we get there.”

          It’s a long flight, but somehow none of them mind.  Eliot’s already looking more relaxed than he has in months, and Hardison doesn’t even complain that much about the airplane not having his favorite soda stocked on the beverage cart.  

          They’re staying at a gorgeous resort on one of the smaller islands, with a private cabin right by the ocean.  Together, they wander out onto the beach.  It’s just the three of them and the sand and the ocean and the sky.  Parker likes this.

          “So?”  Eliot asks.  “What’s the rest of the surprise?”

          Parker grins.  “Us.”  She says.  At the confused looks she receives, she explains, “Sophie asked me what we all liked.  And I was really confused at first, because we all kinda like different things.  But we all like each other.  So that’s how we’re gonna spend our anniversary.  With each other.  No jobs, no worries, no brew pub to manage.  Just us.”

          Hardison wraps one arm around her and the other around Eliot.  “I love it.”  He says before pressing a kiss to her forehead.

          “Thanks, Parker.”  Eliot adds.  “I love you both.”

          Parker leans in against Hardison and smiles at Eliot.  “Love you too.”

          She’s got her best friends by her side.  And this is all she wanted for her anniversary, and she thinks Eliot and Hardison feel the same way.  And that’s pretty nice.

 


End file.
